Pandemonium

Chapter 7

Amelia Bones prided herself on the very well-run DMLE that she headed. She ran a tight ship with everyone respecting her. She was known to be a fair and good leader. But, she was also not an idiot. She knew when the article came out that the backlash would hit her too and she had a contingency plan to distance the DMLE from Fudge's mistake. That's why she was surprised when on returning to her office she found a regal black owl waiting patiently for her. She took the heavy and thick envelope from the owl who ruffled his feathers before taking flight again. She turned the envelope over and was surprised to see it sealed with the Black family crest. She cast charms to not let anyone disturb her before she opened up the envelope. Out fell vials of silvery mist, memories she realized. She opened up the letter and thanked her lucky stars for the opportunity that had fallen into her lap.

Madam Bones, of The Most Ancient and Noble House of Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

Respected Madam,

At the time of reading this letter, I am not aware if you are aware of the circumstances regarding a member of The Most Ancient and Noble House of Black, Sirius Black.

Upon the news of his breakout, I had my lawyers find out everything and was appalled to find that he had never received a trial. My lawyers have been working for some time and we have found some evidence regarding the minister and his undersecretary that I think would be very interesting for you to see. May I recommend getting Unspeakable Croaker's written verification that the memories have not been tampered with before you open them? I feel it would be very beneficial to you.

I hope that I can count on your discretion for this matter to be closed soon. I have also enclosed my lawyers' communication details in case you need to contact me.

Thanking you sincerely,

The Most Ancient and Noble House of Black.

Not believing her luck, Amelia quickly gathered up the parchments and the vials and left for the Department of Mysteries.

After the very shocking article on 7 July, the Wizarding World of Britain was in pandemonium. They didn't know what to do! They were being banned from Quidditch! Quidditch! Every day the Prophet would print some news about what international dignitaries were saying about them and the ministry was being completely silent! News had leaked out that there was an emergency Wizengamot session planned for the weekend and everyone wanted in! It must have been the first time in ages that every single person was invested in the country's well-being. And finally, the day of the wizengamont session arrived. Both the public and the press tiers were filled to the brim and among these people, no one noticed a certain black-haired man with razor eyes watching the proceedings carefully. Even the family of Wizengamot member's tier was filled with students and curious members alike.

For the first time after a long time, the majority of the wizengamot was present, the 28 Ancient and Noble houses except for two, Black and Potter, 10 Order of Merlin, first class recipients, The Minister, his undersecretary, head of DMLE, head of Aurors, Chief Warlock, the court scribe, the head of unspeakable, and 5 wizengamont appointed members which were voted by the Ancient and Noble Houses.

Albus Dumbledore surveyed the Wizengamont chamber with a feeling of dread. Try as he might he had been unable to find where Astrid Black was located. As the clock struck he cleared his throat and announced.

"Seal the doors!"

"11 July 1994, the wizengamot is assembled to debate the matter of Sirius Black and the House of Black, presided by Amelia Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement."

"Calling to the stand as a person of interest, Bartemius Crouch, then head of DMLE."

In the still silence of the Wizengamot, Barty Crouch entered the area and took his place on the stand.

After the preliminary questions to establish his identity, Amelia started the important questions.

"As a person of interest, you have the right to testify under veritaserum to prove your innocence, do you wish to employ this method?"

Barty's lips pursed as he debated the pros and cons of this, before finally agreeing to it. He didn't need people wondering why he had not taken the veritaserum, besides this was only about Black, no way would that ever come up.

As his eyes clouded over, Amelia began questioning.

"Do you remember the night Sirius Black was arrested?"

"Yes."

"Was he guilty?"

"Yes."

"What did evidence did you give in the trial?"

"There was no trial."

"Then how did you know he was guilty?"

"He was found on the street laughing surrounded by dead muggles and Peter Pettigrew's finger was found there."

"Was his wand inspected?"

"No."

"So you are saying that there was no evidence of him casting any spells, he was just found on the street laughing, never received any trial, wasn't given a chance to defend himself, and was directly taken to Azkaban?"

"Yes."

A horrified hush fell over the wizengamot. Lucius Malfoy tightened his grip on his cane. This was not going well. He needed that mutt to either be guilty, dead, or on the run.

"Is there any other illegal activity you are hiding from us, ?" Amelia asked, her eyes narrowed into slits.

No! Barty thought, he couldn't. Not this. He struggled to close his mouth, to somehow work around the veritaserum, but that was impossible, Veritaserum was made to cover any loopholes. Unwillingly, his deepest darkest secret came spilling out.

"Yes, a few years after I sentenced my son to Azkaban my wife got very sick, she convinced me to make one trip to Azkaban and exchange my son for wife under poly juice potion. Since then I have kept him at my house under the Imperius curse with my elf to look after him."

Instantly an uproar began in the court. People began shouting at the members of the court to send him to Azkaban immediately, to kill him here only, the only reason curses weren't being hurled was because all magic except for the head of DMLE, head of DOM, and the chief warlock was neutralized during the session. Augusta Longbottom was leading the crowd who looked ready to mutiny and march down to Crouch to kill him.

"Silence! Silence!" A white and shaky Dumbledore shouted. He had never guessed this would be the outcome of this, but he was quite glad this came out now, my god if the boy would have gotten away somehow, horror would have rained down on the whole country.

A white Amelia immediately took control of the situation.

"Dawlish! Take Crouch down to holding, Shacklebot assemble a team and go down to the Crouch residence now!"

"Bartemius Crouch you are hereby arrested for condemning a man, a war hero to Azkaban without trial, harboring a fugitive, a known death eater, and for the use of the imperius curse. You will be held in the ministry holding cells until your trial. If you cannot afford a lawyer one will be provided for you."

The Aurors she mentioned quickly got to work, walking out quickly. She couldn't decide if this was turning into a nightmare or what. She quickly moved onto the next person on her list.

"Calling to the stand as a person of interest, Minister Cornelius Fudge."

Fudge stood up shakily, for all his political savvy he was stumped as to how to get out of this, one thing was for sure, he was not going to be using the veritaserum.

"Minister Fudge, you have the right to testify under veritaserum, do you wish to make use of this?"

"No." Fudge replied almost instantaneously.

"Very well, but as a person of interest if you are found to be lying, you will have to testify under veritaserum, do you understand that?"

"Yes." Fudge in all of his political acumen could be very thick when need be and had convinced himself somehow that no one would even figure out that he was lying.

Amelia suppressed a smile. She had got him now.

"Minister, do you remember the night when Sirius Black escaped prison?"

"Yes."

"Do you remember the emergency meeting you called?"

"Yes."

"Do you remember me telling you that Sirius Black had never had a trial and that we should rectify it?"

Fudge remained silent, his brain numb. He couldn't get out of this without lying! Oh well, people would believe him anyway, over Amelia. He was the Minister!

"No." He answered boldly.

Amelia narrowed her eyes in irritation.

"Are you sure Minister?" She asked.

"Yes, I'm sure." Fudge replied a smidge of irritation to his tone.

"Rufus! Arrest the minister." Amelia commanded. Murmurs began in the court at this very interesting turn of events, again.

"What? Hang on a minute now! Why are you arresting me and on what account?" Fudge protested.

"Obstruction of justice, lying on the stand, manipulating the public. Do you need me to continue?"

"Hem hem."

"Aurors please administer -"

"Hem hem."

"The veritaserum to the minister."

"Hem hem!"

"What madam undersecretary?" Amelia asked, her blazing as she turned onto the toad-like woman.

"So sorry dear, I didn't mean to undermine your authority-"

"Then don't." Amelia replied succinctly.

"You cannot arrest a pureblood wizard without sufficient evidence!" Umbridge interrupted in the same creepy, faux sweet tone.

"A pureblood wizard found lying on the stand when giving evidence against another pureblood, especially against another house of higher standing can be arrested and given veritaserum! And I will remind you Dolores Umbridge, that you are walking on a very thin line and do not ever undermine my authority ever again." Amelia snapped before turning back to the stand.

"Director croaker, can you please authenticate if this memory is a true memory and hasn't been tampered with, or isn't imagination?" Amelia asked drawing a strand of memory from her head, placing it in a vial, and handing it to Croaker.

Croaker performed some spells on it before a golden seal of the department of mysteries appeared over it.

"The memory hasn't been tampered with and isn't a figment of the imagination." he announced.

Amelia nodded before tipping it into a pensive and activating a spell that will allow the memory to be broadcasted for everyone to see. It showed the minister's office where Amelia was sitting in front of the desk with Fudge opposite her and Umbridge on a stool beside him.

"Minister we need to announce this to the public, we need to give Sirius Black a trial."

"Now listen here Amelia, it's been twelve years, if we trudge this up now, it will be on us, we can't afford that. We'll spin it saying he has escaped using dark magic yes." Fudge replied nodding his head.

"Dark magic? Minister, are you even listening to me? There is no proof showing Sirius Black was ever a death eater! He never even had a trial! How do you think the remaining members of the House of Black will react when they realized you let a member of their house, especially a direct blood heir rot in jail and didn't even clear his name when you realized the truth?" Amelia snapped back.

"If I may Minister." Umbridge interrupted with a smile.

"The house of Black is no more, it will only be reestablished when Lucius Malfoy's son reaches age, and he would be most displeased if we did anything to threaten his son's birthright. Also, as I recall Sirius Black's mother and father disowned him when he refused to join the death eaters." she said with a disgusting smile.

"Yes, yes, your right Dolores. Lucius did tell me he would appreciate it if Sirius Black was disposed of. Dolores, issue a kiss on order for Black, station dementors around Hogwarts, he will be going there. Amelia, as the Minister of Magic I command you to not speak of this to anyone, if you do you shall be in breach of your contract." A weak swirl of magic surrounded them.

The entire wizengamot was quiet. The neutrals and light families and even a few dark families were showcasing surprise, shock, and disgust towards Lucius, Fudge, and Umbridge.

The memory ended with an enraged Amelia shouting at Fudge and storming out of the office.

Amelia cleared the memory calmly while looking directly at Fudge. The vow he had invoked was already weak, her vow to protect the community surpassing his corrupted one, so she was able to work around it, and instead of speaking about it could show the memory of it.

Between the many whispers of the court, Amelia ordered Fudge to be administered the veritaserum before questioning him again.

"Did you know that Sirius Black was innocent?"

"Yes, when he was caught in Hogwarts Harry Potter and his friends insisted that Sirius Black was innocent. I ignored their claims because I didn't want to say that the Ministry had made a huge mistake."

It took nearly 5 minutes for Dumbledore to calm the Wizengamot enough to let Amelia resume.

"Cornelius Fudge, you are hereby arrested for obstruction of justice, failing to do your duty as a Minister, and sentencing an innocent to be condemned by the public. You will be held in the Ministry holding cells while you await your trial. You have the right to a lawyer if you cannot afford one, one will be provided for you. Aurors take him away."

"Calling onto the stand, Dolores Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary to Minister Fudge."

Dolores made her way, just like Fudge convincing herself that she could get away with everything, and just like Fudge, she too would be wrong, having underestimated the House of Black, but unlike Fudge, she would be caught in her preliminary questioning.

"Please state your name for the record."

"Dolores Jane Umbridge."

"Date of birth."

"26 August, 1965."

"Parent's names."

"Elise and Arnold, they were purebloods who were murdered when I was young. We are distantly related to the Selwyn family." She lied with a fake smile, stressing on the word pureblood.

Got you. Amelia thought satisfied.

"Madam Umbridge, are you aware of the punishment for impersonating being a part of an Ancient and Noble House?"

"Of course, I helped write them." Umbridge replied giggling. She tried to portray an expression of complete control but inside her mind was furiously working trying to think if she left any loose ends.

The wizengamot had by now caught up to Amelia's game and those smart enough had already deduced what this meant. Dolores Umbridge was lying about her parentage, especially being part of the House of Selwyn. And no one was none the sadder to see her go. Even the blood purists.

"Do you know these people, Orford Umbridge and Ellen Cracknell?"

"No." Umbridge replied but her smile had turned strained and her face paled.

"Bring them in." Amelia called without moving her eyes off of the toad-like witch.

In came a shoddy, old couple but with an obvious resemblance to Dolores Umbridge.

"What are you doing here? Get out of here! Get out of here you filthy muggle and half-blood! How dare you enter here! Get out of here! I am not your daughter! I cut all ties with you! I am not a filthy half-blood! How dare you lie?" Umbridge screamed, trying to move towards the couple but was held back by the aurors holding her.

The woman had a horrified expression on her face while the man looked dejected like he had accepted this. They were quickly taken out of court and Croaker had placed a silencing spell on Umbridge.

"Well I'll take that as an admission of guilt." Amelia stated dryly.

"Dolores Umbridge you have already committed a crime and will be convicted to the full extent of the law. You will now be administrated veritaserum since you have proved that you cannot be trusted."

It took three aurors holding her down and a fourth to administer her the potion.

Amelia again asked the same questions and when she came to the ones about parentage, she told the names Orford Umbridge and Ellen Cracknell. Satisfied that she could get the correct answers she began her questioning.

"What do you know about the deal Lucius Malfoy made with Fudge regarding Sirius Black and the House of Black?"

"There was no deal, I just suggested that in the hopes that I could curry favor with the Minister and Lucius Malfoy."

"Did you know that Sirius Black was innocent?"

"No. Minister Fudge never spoke of that night at Hogwarts."

A few more questions but Amelia couldn't get anything out of her without going completely off trial.

"Dolores Umbridge you are hereby arrested for lying about your blood status and about being a part of an Ancient and Noble House. You will be held in the ministry holding cells until your trial. A lawyer will be provided for you if you cannot afford one. Aurors take her away."

After that, the court settled a bit as Amelia showed the memories of the night at Hogwarts, thankfully since the memories were from a minor they didn't need to be present at court. Though Amelia did notice that Dumbledore seemed dumbstruck and rather sad and pale. The reunion of Sirius Black and Remus Lupin made happiness and nostalgia bloom in many people's eyes. As they watched the rat turn into Pettigrew and his pathetic explanations and Sirius, Remus, and Harry's passionate response, many women were crying and Amelia was sure that once Sirius Black was proclaimed innocent many women would be throwing themself at the poor best friend and godfather who only escaped Azkaban to save his godson. The rest of the court session went by in a whirl, 90% of the Wizengamot declared Sirius Black innocent, and 100% of the wizengamot along with the press and public declared Fudge incompetent and impeached him. In a surprising move, Amelia was made interim Minister. While she had never expected this, she already had many plans to make changes in the community, but first, she had to draft a thank you note to the House of Black.

Hello everyone! Thank you all for the lovely reviews, they truly make my day.

So, someone reviewed asking me about the pairings, right now I have no pairings, I want to focus on the how Sirius Remus and Harry interact and become family and of course Astrid.

Also, I have a few assignments so I will be unable to update as regularly for a few days, sorry please bear with me.

Hope you enjoy this chapter!